Love and War
by Seraphina Elias
Summary: When an unknown plague hits Storybrooke, the entire town is reliant on a teenager to help them. Rated M for future smut scenes
1. Intro

The sound of screaming echoed through the streets of Storybrooke, jolting the entire town out of their sleep. Regina watched as Emma jumped out of bed and grabbed her pistol from the nightstand. She quickly threw on a pair of pants and ran out, down the stairs, and to the front door. Henry was already looking out the window to the right, metal bat in hand as he let the curtain fall back into place. He motioned for her to come closer.

He began whispering, "I think we need more than just the two of us."

Emma poked her head out the door and saw a small group of men, trudging down the street in front of the house. She quietly shut it back and gave him a warning look, as if to tell him not to follow her, then she was gone. The sheriff ducked down beside her car and wait for the men to completely disappear from sight before making her way down the driveway. She could still see their shadows as the began creeping down the sidewalk. Whoever they were, she could tell they were up to no good.

She looked away long enough to look behind her, but when she turned her head back, they were gone altogether. A bad feeling sunk in and without hesitation, Emma ran back to the house. Just as she closed the door behind her, she could see shadows coming from the outside. She looked out the window and saw more people, walking in the other direction. As one of them stopped, Henry called to his parents.

"What's going on?" Regina asked as she followed her wife into the living room.

They watched the news footage unfold before them, 100% live and unedited. People all over the place were going crazy and killing each other, only to drink their blood. It had been going on all day, but it wasn't until after the sun went down that it went from being just a few cases, to entire cities being attacked and going into lockdown. No one knew how to stop what was happening and, so far, there was no way to tell how long it would last or if it would end. All they could do was stay inside their homes and hope nobody came hunting for them.

The three of them were quickly pulled back to their own reality as they heard gun shots off in the distance. Henry shut off the TV and grabbed his bat, Emma steadied her gun in her hand, and Regina grabbed a knife from the kitchen. The two women could always fall back on their magic, if things got too ugly, but they hoped it wouldn't go to that extent. It'd be nice to find that they weren't as tough as they looked.

As they approached the center of town, they noticed there was an eerie feeling roaming through, almost like a scent being carried in on the wind. The family looked at one another, as if one of them would have the answers. A look of horror spread across Henry and Emmaa's faces as Regina felt someone or something breathing down her neck. A chill shot through her entire body as she pictured whatever it was, drooling and biting into her. She turned to find a strange man looking at her, with dark eyes that seemed to be both alive and dead at the same time. Behind him, in blurred vision, she could see a few other people creeping up from the distance.

A hand full of gun shots fired and she, Emma, and Henry watched each of the bodies fall to the ground. They'd all be shot in the head, a metallic liquid slowly running out of the hole, along with their diseased blood. The three of them turned around in the direction the shots had come from and saw a figure step out of the shadows, under a street lamp. After squinting, they could each see it was a girl, no more than 16, maybe.

"You're welcome," She said, "Meet me down on the docks tomorrow, after the sun comes up. These things thrive in darkness."


	2. Chapter 1

Emma walked out on to the dock, Regina and Henry directly behind her. The girl stood at the end, hood over her head, back turned towards them. As a cloud of smoke left from the right of her head, from her exhaling, they watched as she turned around.. She kept her hood on and her hands in her pockets as she approached the trio. Her walk was confident and they could tell that she meant business. When she got closer they were all shocked to find that she was closer to Henry's age than they thought.

Emma pulled the hood off the stranger's head and asked, "How old are you?"

She replied, "15, why?"

Henry smiled, "Cool, I turn 15 in a couple of months."

Without hesitation, Regina got back on track, "You said you can tell us what's going on?"

The girl nodded, "It started in New York City. They think it's an illness like the flu or something, but it's not. It's worse." She took a deep breath, then continued, "They're called Strigoi."

"Vampires?" Asked Henry.

"More like vampires on steroids. These things have to much rage and are so blood thirsty, they can't control themselves. Not at first. It takes several years of practice and discipline before they can get a handle on their hunger. They hunt at night and can't be killed with a wooden stake to the heart like it says in books. These are Strigoi, they're the new cockroaches. You have to shoot them in the head with silver bullets, take their heads off with a silver blade, or burn them. usually it's best to try and do all three so you know for a fact that they're dead, but you don't have to."

The mayor scoffed, "And how do you know all of this?"

The girl looked her dead in the eye and replied, "My father was a mythology professor."

"Was?" Emma sounded worried about the answer.

"He died when we made a break for the car." Before any of them could ask any more questions she told them, "Get together as much silver as you can and melt it down to make bullets, knives, and swords. Make sure to set up traps and stuff around your town and don't sleep at night. They're weak during the day and have to hide from the sun, so the day light hours are the best time to sleep."

Emma nodded, "Okay, we can set up a perimeter and get a few people to keep watch during the day, make sure we double up our manpower at night."

"Make sure you have protection for tonight. I suggest you barricade yourselves in somewhere and keep some silver nearby. Normally I'd stay and help, but I really need to get going to the next town and warn them. Hopefully I'm not too late."

Regina asked, "Don't you think you should stay and get some rest first?"

"No. I really need to leave," She replied as she turned to walk away.

"Wait!" Emma called out after they parted ways, "What's your name?"

The girl pushed her hair out of her face as she replied, "Ava!"


End file.
